Now imagine taking a stroll in a park – let’s say the Morningside Park in Upper Manhattan – and seeing a large sculpture of a reclining figure. Instead of Buddha, however, reclining on the grass is Liberty herself.

Part of NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program, “Reclining Liberty” is a piece by Harlem-based artist Zaq Landsberg. It is a plaster resin sculpture of the quintessential American figurative symbol, resting with her eyes closed. The materials she was made of are sturdy enough to support anyone who would climb, sit atop, or lean up against her. If you ever wanted to see and interact with Liberty, now is your chance; especially since the copper paint and an oxidizing acid really make it look like the actual Statue.

Morningside Park’s Reclining Liberty

The symbolisms behind the artwork are many: Landsberg intentionally combines the traditional Buddhist iconography with that of New York and the United States at large, questioning the ideals that the Statue of Liberty represents. The artist also considers the meaning and significance of monuments, America’s relationship with its own history, and the way certain aspects of it have been celebrated to the exclusion, and even detriment, of a large part of its own people. “Reclining Liberty” could also be perceived as a symbol of a country succumbing to a grueling pandemic, in which even the tallest of statues can be worn down.

Is Liberty simply tired from all the challenges of the contemporary moment? Aren’t we all?

About Zaq Landsberg

Zaq Landsberg specializes in large scale, site-specific sculpture that is often installed outdoors. Much of his work, by his own admission, involves “things that look like other things” – for instance, his “Peshmerga Fighting Vehicle” from 2017 is a replica of a real-life truck used by the military forces in Kurdistan, while the 2014 installation “SkyWatch” is an eerie, spider-like NYPD watch tower. He is also the creator of the “Republic of Zaqistan”, a two-acre piece of land in the American West.

Landsberg’s interest in the concept of monuments extends beyond “Reclining Liberty,” through artworks dealing with visual representations of historical figures such as Robert E. Lee and Christopher Columbus. This is also the second time the artist used the Statue of Liberty in his art: it follows the 2012 project titled “Face of Liberty”, in which half of her head was emerging from the Governors Island.

You can visit Zaq Landsberg’s “Reclining Liberty” in Morningside Park, near the West 120th Street and Morningside Avenue entrance to the park, until April 2022.

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You are an artist and you also perform in shows. Which side of the job do you like and enjoy the most?

I like when everything blurs together and it’s a lifestyle versus a job or a show. It is not just painting, not just performing. I like being ongoing. I paint on my face, then I smash the paint into a canvas, then I stack that onto my chest, then I slam it into a wall, while making a song. Then the song inspires me while I’m drawing. I let it all out, non stop. Sleep less/do more. When we dip back into this “human” life of roles and routine we become less in the moment.

You bridged the gap between the Art and Club world in the 90’s; can you tell us more?

I was a naive kid working clubs in ’93 for food money. I drew at all my events, jobs, even when I WAS A D.J. or did the door or ran events. From booking Wutang to Fat Joe, I was still  drawing all the people that came out. I filled sketchbooks and everyone was like YOOOOO! “Why don’t you just show your work?”  and I was like “ whhhhhhat???”

As a kid I had no clue. I grew up struggling and with no art education so the Club world x “my” people put me on, and then I started organizing art shows at the clubs. Once I saw that I could organize I put other people on. I did things every week back then. I was curating in a way, from dance shows, raves, punk, palladium, horrible bars etc but I left all that and moved on into showing and full time artist life around 18, 19 years old.

Your signature line work has made an impact on NYC. Can you tell us some of the details of what that line is and how it impacted NYC?

I don’t think it’s up to the artist to determine if the work impacts anyone. New York City is constantly changing, the lines are fluid and always moving, overlapping, changing, like this crazy place. Everyone has a line of work, I’m just channeling the rhythms  worked on as a kid and what I develop daily now, to hopefully make new language.

The lines developed from growing up here as a coping mechanism, drawing life, faces, places and movement. Everyone’s experience in New York is different. Growing up I was an extreme outsider to art. The line work I developed was without exposure to the art, even though I was born here. This kind of lifestyle is often overlooked in “art” storytelling when we think of NY. I hope we can start to think of other artists from rough areas that made it, but the common story is born into, or came for it???

I was born sick, as a kid I suffered from extreme illnesses and just became known as the kid that stayed inside and drew weird lines. Outsiders come from all over the world to New York to make art. I was an outsider in my own town, I just drew all the time and it took all the other New Yorkers to tell me to look at these drawings, to look at Warhol, that I was an artist and to go see a Chuck Close show. I was a strange street kid- I was always  getting into trouble living by the side of the road. My NYC story is odd, but many can relate; they just don’t all get the chance to speak and I hope that changes in this extreme twisted culture.

How would you define your work, technique, and what your message is behind it?

I work around the clock every day. I’ve always been this way since I was a kid. My focus has been being free, making, making, making- from doing collage, sculptures, drawings, paintings, masks, music, immersing myself. I like to throw paint on my clothes, cakes on my head and do jackass performances. I need to escape the system and all this man made bullshit construct by creating all the time and fully being lost in the moment. I don’t want to conform and be a part of anything.

You say that your paintings are inside paintings, can you explain to us what you mean by that?

I try to create paintings that are not one dimensional. Even if it’s as simple as strange Miss Piggy if you look closer you can see a skull, a flower and an exploding eye, then maybe yourself. I have to compete with life. People are busy. If I’m making work and want people to see, I have to think of my competition, this huge thing called life which has so many pictures.

There are layers into layers, pushed, smushed and splattering all around fields of color that shift, faces inside of worlds and if you move in close you can discover hidden levels. I’m doing my math, drawing from different angles, different foregrounds, and multiple perspectives. It’s not a straightforward story, it’s more like a painted Matthew Silver bit.

What is art for you?

Art to me isn’t described by the word art. It isn’t something in a box, destroyed by intention, it just is. All the rest is just human bullshit, needs and wants. The thing that works is when it transcends into the next dimension.

You opened the Alien X the living installation. What inspired this installation and can you share with us more about it? What is it about?

We just did an installation on our Lower East Side rooftop with the city skyline, and have another one coming up. We recorded the whole thing live and it’s available to watch. www.michaelalanart.com/thelivinginstallation

During our performances we are creating human paintings, that change and melt and transform on our bodies and in space. In short we slap ourselves up with anything you can think of. We create robots, slam materials on our head, scream and transform and meld our skin, wreaking and creating objects, blindfolded and covered in paint. We speak about the human condition and the artist as a clown and the underlying emptiness of capitalism. My 84 year old mother performs! Jadda cat is my partner. I am just a clown.

People think of New York and they think of Graffiti and Hip Hop and an underground performance scene. We are continuing that old school punk ethos. New York has been shut down and there’s not been too much going on and we are trying to contribute to its rebirth. We designed the show to be accessible in the open air or by live feed so that people have a way to experience art safely again. We also at random daily walk around as living art.

Since artists seem to always be creating or thinking of their next creation, please share with us any of your future projects and dreams.

I have so much work around me piled up and in progress, and series upon series and so many various styles that I can barely keep up. I just keep working and I let it guide me to where I’m going. I want to keep finding the new without an agenda.

 My next show is this upcoming Saturday, May 22nd.

www.instagram.com/michaelalanalien

www.instagram.com/thelivinginstallation

www.facebook.com/MichaelAlan1.0

www.michaelalanart.com

https://michaelalanalien.bandcamp.com/album/michael-alan-alien

The post Meet the Artist Michael Alan Alien appeared first on Artiholics.

To wind up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art must have been an interesting journey. Could you please tell us a little about yourself and the journey that brought you there.

I’m a chemist. I studied chemistry in Italy and then crystallography which is the discipline that studies crystalline materials particularly minerals; I obtained my PhD in Italy. Then I came to the US for a postdoctoral period at the University of Michigan continuing along that line with regular chemistry. That’s where I started looking for an alternative career in the industry.

Simultaneously, I discovered American art museums and found that they are very interesting and different than European museums, especially the Italian ones.

There is a degree of integration among different professions and also a broader array of professions within the museum. I discovered that there were scientists working in museums. Here in the US I found they have science labs that we are supporting the restorers, conservators and the art curators in their investigation which was a big discovery for me. Very few people were hiring scientists in museums and it was just a few university laboratories doing this and there were no scientists in museums, and even now there are no scientists in museums in Italy.

So I always had the thought to do this but I always left it as a thought thinking it would be nice but I can’t.

I discovered this field, then I just picked up the phone and started calling all the labs in museums. I spoke with their scientists and asked about an opening. I had a list of 12 it names to call. I still remember in fact my wife Jennifer, who at the time I was dating, said who told me that since I had a list of contacts to just pick up the phone and call.

And I wondered how to do that because I wouldn’t do that in Italy. She reminded me that this is not Italy and this is how you do things in America. So I just called them.

Everybody was very nice. There weren’t many opportunities. But the last person I called was the scientist at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He said yes and he informed me that they had a fellowship I should apply for and so I applied. I actually went there on my own. I took a Southwest flight that probably stopped in 16 places before getting to LA to go for the interview.

They offered me a job that paid very little. I could manage and so, after a lot of trouble to get the Visa permit, I started in LA. I still remember when I went there for my interview because it was March and there was still snow on the ground in Ann Arbor, Michigan where I was living at the time. I got to LAX (which is not the best place in LA) but when I saw the palm trees I said, I’m going to get this job. So I started it and that September I moved to LA. I spent two years there as a fellow which is basically a very Junior position but it was an extraordinary experience because I really had a fantastic mentor, great colleagues, and it was really so integrated. There I got to work on everything from paintings to ancient Egyptian silver and bronze sculptures, Modern art. So really that was how I learned. After two years, I had the opportunity to get a research position at the Freer Gallery in Washington DC, which is the collection of Asian art of the Smithsonian. There I started working on a special project on Japanese art.

Then, after two years LA County Museum of Art called me and told me that the person I worked with there had retired and asked if I was interested in the job of senior scientist there. After some time there the Met museum called. Even though I loved Los Angeles, I could not say no to New York. New York is where things happen and and my task at the MET was really to create the first scientific research department in the all history of the MET. The MET had a few scientists, but they were working on different conservation areas, in different environments. So they asked me to come in, bring them together and create a bigger structure. Therefore, I gave up surfing in the morning before I went to work and I moved to NYC.

I’m still here, 16 years later.

You are a very successful scientist, what is your role/job description at the Met museum?

Now every day the first thing I do is to arrange the calendar for the following week because out of 16 people on my team I can only bring in six people every day because of Covid-19 occupancy restrictions, so I’m just like the guy who takes down bookings for the tennis courts or something like that. It’s not very exciting and you can imagine everybody wants to be here. A lot of my work is administrative. I created a team, I assembled a work structure; as a non profit we have to do a lot of fundraising that is looking for grants to secure positions to take care of the maintenance of equipment and to purchase new equipment. My biggest priority right now is really helping museums and the Arts to achieve more representation and more diversity.

We’re lucky that in the sciences we have an amazing pool of talented scientists of color, so we can take advantage of programs that existed in the past. We increased the minority representation in the sciences and our task now is reaching out to these candidates letting them know that this is a great career and they can join the museum and contribute and help us become more representative of America. To do that I just need to do a lot of knocking on doors to get money.

Because today is a very quiet day I could come in to do the interview with you and also work in the laboratory. I’m thinking it’s a luxury for me. I can shut off the paperwork and go to the laboratory where I’m putting together a new instrument that will allow us to do more work in identifying materials in works of art. Tomorrow I have a new Junior scientist who’s a PhD candidate here at City College and who works with me.

I also work on Japanese art. That’s my skill, my passion. I’ve done a lot of work to study artworks such as the famous Great Wave by Hokusai. If you Google me you’ll see that I talk a lot about that. Our job is to discover how those prints were made, and also to really look through materials, through the technology, through the identification of artists pigments and processes, and understand more about the society that produced these works.

Our aim would be not to just stop at the surface or under the surface, but scrape down and tell a story that really says something new about Hokusai and understand art through the lens of the components and physical nature of the object.

How do you apply your scientific expertise to the artworks that the museum deals with? Can you give an example?

For example, in Hokusai’s Great Wave (you can look up in our collection website) you see there’s a beautiful and dynamic live representational force of nature in the Great Wave where tiny little men are about to be washed out by the wave. One of the things that was very interesting to me was the use of blue. Now the woodblock printing in Japan in the 1800s was the most advanced color reproduction technique in the world. So even though it was a pre-industrial society, there was no steam power, no machine, etc., they could achieve amazing results in several fields.

They were able to achieve amazing color quality, amazing quality control over print that were sold at a very low cost. It was commercial illustration, it was not art. You start seeing prints like the Great Wave, my own hypothesis is that we have the beginning of artistic prints in that they go beyond even what was already highly achievable at that time in the sense that the depth of color and the color range is amazing. Our brain processes variations in light (expressed in drawings with light and dark shading) as variation in depth in space. Hokusai and the master craftsmen who printed this work knew this intuitively, and they took extra care with lighter and darker shades of blue to create depth and movement. The observation is that these works are truly exceptional, and trying to deconstruct them to see what makes them amazing in the use of color and then going into analysis to prove this theory is part of the work. Therefore, we use a variety of tools, and the most important ones are the eye and the microscope, as you really want to get close to it and observe it. I’m not that good but my colleagues that work in conservation really have highly trained eyes and they can very often tell me what I’m going to find. They are always right. And then we go on with non-invasive analytical techniques. These are instruments that allow us to identify the materials without removing particles from the work, eventually it may be necessary to do what we call micro sampling, that is removing microscopic fragments.

We have a fiber optic instrument that shines just like regular white light and we capture the reflection of the color, and we can see through a spectrometer broken down in each wavelength rather than the eye which has only three receptors, the eye sees blue, green, and red.

Blue, green, and red are amazing colors because we have color vision essentially by seeing these three colors. This instrument instead has hundreds of receptors so we can really get a very complex picture that gives us the fingerprint of a certain color. We can tell whether it’s Indigo or Prussian Blue.

So what we discovered was how those two pigments were mixed which makes the printing more complex, time consuming, and ultimately more expensive, if you see that the publisher chose to go through this route and created something that clearly has more added value, more artistic quality. Then, this is not a normal print, and I think that that is an important statement to make because it says something about the time that was done and what people wanted and it gets a bit more complex. You can imagine that landscapes are important to those who love to travel. And that’s normal for us. We don’t even think about it. You have a landscape in front of you and say, oh I would like to visit the place or I visited that place. I think about older times like special feudal society when they were not allowed to travel and could not just pick up and go with money; but also needing to be authorized by their local sovereign lord. You could not just go somewhere else and not work for him.

So what we see in Japan in Tokyo is that people had a little bit more money and

people started traveling. So maybe it’s a pilgrimage. Maybe it’s going to a famous sanctuary or famous art place. So if you’re a person of means you travel and you commission a painting that shows a famous place.

If your personal means are less you may buy a print and maybe still travel so the print could be a souvenir. If you’re somebody who cannot travel at least you can afford the print because now you see the landscapes around you. There is always a correlation of what you see in paintings and what you need to make that painting.

Before the 1820’s (The Great Wave is from 1830s) you cannot find landscape prints in Japan.

Quite simply because they didn’t have a blue color that you can use for print that would give you the bright blue of the sky and the deep blue of the ocean. All they had was indigo, which is the color of blue jeans, a bit of a dull color. It doesn’t really work. If you make it really concentrated it comes out a dull grey-blue.

If you want to you can make it a little like the blue sky but it won’t be the real blue sky and so at some point Prussian blue from Europe arrived in Japan. And that’s about 1820 the moment it arrives you have landscape prints. This is not a coincidence.

We traced the use of colors which is the very basic step into looking at a piece of art with the curators or art historians. We then join in and so it’s a little bit of a forensic conversation, a little bit of art historical background. We go in through a step-by-step approach using not the eyes but microscopes, for non-invasive analysis as well as x-ray laser based infrared tools.

Have you ever come across a forgery?

We generally don’t comment on forgeries and similar issues. There are other issues which are not outright forgeries, but it’s where a piece has been restored and and so a part is not original and some of them could be historical and some could be very new. So it’s more about deciding which one stays and which one goes. I know it’s a very fascinating topic, but I am sure there are actually less forgeries than you think. We haven’t seen many those. We also have the opposite which is when we have an object that may be classified as a reproduction or a copy and with true analysis we can tell that it’s actually the real thing. That’s far more exciting because instead of condemning something you can actually bring it back from obscurity.

What do you think of the art world right now during Covid-19? What has the impact been as far as you see?

I can tell you only what I know about-that it is certainly a crisis.

This is hitting all of us really hard.

I say it’s a catastrophe because right now the MET is losing an enormous amount of money. We’re trying to stay open and we really wanted to stay open, not so much to find revenue. As you know, we have a particular admission policy where New Yorkers and New York State residents “pay as they wish”.

The fixed price ticket is only for people outside of the State of New York. But with Covid the only people who come to the museum are New Yorkers and New York State residents. Our revenue is very small right now and really I would say the decision was to open because we think we represent something for the city for our members, for our public, and we wanted to be there.

The reopening was not about the money. As you look at museums closing around the country it’s very sad and I hope that museums can stay open and will decide to stay open if they can.

It is a great time now to visit and experience the museum because there are only very small crowds. Everybody is wearing a mask. Everybody is distancing. You can relax in the galleries.

What has been the most challenging part of your job?

We are a frontier profession but the field is still making advances that are considerable. Also we are at the border between different disciplines so it’s really a matter of communication. It’s really learning the language of other professions while communicating our work in a way that is responsible and relevant to others, and fighting every day for our own relevance. Really the ones at the table are the ones being part of the messaging in every sense.

What has been the most enjoyable part of your job?

I like to talk all over the world about my profession. I’ve been honored to be with scientists who achieve far more than me and we talked to school children and we see them get excited when we bring them here in the labs. We want to do more and more of that. That is absolutely enjoyable.

Then, the other part that is amazingly enjoyable is being in the lab and developing something new, creating a new instrument, making a new discovery. That is something that by itself is worth all the work that you put in.

You most likely do not work alone. What kinds of things do the team members do to assist you with your work?

The staff is highly specialized: chemists or geologists. Most of them are with PhDs where 80% are women, 20% men. Every year we have two to three postdoctoral fellows. We have had over 200 since I came here: interns from High School to graduate, undergraduate to graduate, and post graduate fellows to high level scientists coming.

That’s a very broad crew. We have people specializing in different areas. So I have a person who specializes in analysis of paintings, a person specializing in organic material now. This is sort of the oil, the tempera order. We have a person specializing in organic analysis for the rest of the collection. We established it recently, three people who are in charge of the environment. They study air quality, temperature, humidity, and light conditions.

It’s a luxury to have so many. We’re probably the largest in the US in a museum.

These types of diversity of scientific training and discipline is very important when you think of an art museum like the MET. We collect anything and everything from ancient Asia art

to the contemporary world. There isn’t another museum in the world that has a collection so broad and I don’t mean this to brag. For example, the British museum has the widest archaeological collection but does not have the diversity of art that the Met museum has.

It doesn’t matter how big you are, but it’s about the diversity.

The post Meet Marco Leona from the Metropolitan Museum of Art appeared first on Artiholics.

Where are you from? Please introduce yourself.

My name is Margaret Zox Brown. I was born and bred in Manhattan and have lived here for basically my entire life.

When did you start painting? What kind of art do you paint?

I started painting in my late 20s. It felt like an exciting leap for me since I had been drawing for my whole life. Painting was a new and challenging medium, and I was introduced to color. I immediately was taken with color and it became (and still is) a focus within my art. I would say that my art is Representational Expressionism.

What medium do you use for your paintings?

Almost all of my paintings are oil on canvas. I have also added oil paint to Conté drawings on paper, creating mixed media pieces. Oil paint and oil painting mediums are what I love most.

How did the lockdown impact your creation and what did it mean for you going forward?

Before Covid, I was heavily immersed in painting a series of New York Characters. Because I could no longer find my subjects nor go to my Garment District studio to paint, I had to rethink everything. After doing a few colored pencil drawings and watercolors at the dining room table, I knew I just had to find a way to paint in oil again to express all that I was feeling during this unique time. I made a temporary, makeshift studio out of the studio apartment above where I live. Eventually that apartment will be joined with our living space but during the lockdown it would be sitting empty. So I made it into my studio. I started painting oil paintings that reflected, once again, my world and the emotions I felt around what I chose to highlight with my art. I also changed from titling each piece to now during this Lockdown series, dating the paintings in order to chronicle how I was feeling throughout this time. I have learned a lot about myself and my intention with my art through this Lockdown series. I realize that I have always been painting the magnificence of the quotidian and connecting with the world by sharing it. And while my world is of course smaller, it is actually so much larger because we all are going through the same thing and we all are experiencing a world of life at home. I am so happy finding beauty within the moment. I have no idea where I will be emotionally in the future, but for now, even as the world starts to open up, I can see continuing to paint what I have been painting.

Most artists’ work has a purpose or a message. What is the message of your art? What emotions and feelings do you want to convey visually in each painting?

My intention with my art is to find the true beauty in the quotidian and to share that with the world. Life most definitely has ups and downs, but I prefer to express the beauty, both aesthetically and emotionally, that I see and I know we all can share.

Tell us about the favorite work of art you created and why it is.

I have many favorite pieces because I have been painting for a very long time and have gone through many different series. Also, I always love where I am in the present the most. So to answer your question, for now I would say my favorite painting is, “April 28th – May 17th, 2020.” This is a painting that is part of my Lockdown series. It is a painting of my husband and dog, snuggling together on the couch. I feel that this painting encompasses so much emotionally and uses so many artistic elements to achieve this that it is pleasing on so many levels. It reveals a sense of love and comfort and life and warmth. All these wonderful feelings of home are brought about through: subject, perspective, color, line and form, light, paint application, layout and design.

Do you have any future projects that you would like to share with us?

I am continuing with this series and continually receiving press about it.

Whose art work do you admire? Whose artwork has impacted you? What direction do you see for the world of art?

I admire many artists for varying reasons: Gauguin for his color, Matisse for his flat picture plane, Alice Neel for her figures, Morandi for his capturing of a moment of pause, and many contemporary artists whose work and careers I follow and applaud. I see the art world definitely continuing to thrive. Everyone needs art more than ever now. It is not only a documentation of the times we are living in but it also provides culture and optimism and a sense of community. And I believe that even if viewing or experiencing art might not be in the way we all have known, the internet is the perfect place to share and discover and enjoy art.

Margaret Zox Brown’s Website

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“The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech.” – Vincent van Gogh

Yes! We all feel a thousand emotions in our lives, and some of us get affected by it a bit too much, and as artists, they create a new direction in the art scene. Atom’s art has a lot to say about the same. Atom Hovhanesyan was based in New York City, a young, talented, and passionate artist truly in love with painting and drawing.

Atom’s father had seen him painting for more than 24 hours tirelessly until the last days of Atom’s life in his studio in NYC, which is also supposed to be the place where he left this world. Atom had called his style of art “Post Divisionist and Abstract”. It truly justifies his artworks. Born in Armenia, where his father Ara Hovhannisyan was an electrical engineer and his mother Gayane Davtyan was a personnel manager in an urban trade corporation and also created artworks as a hobby. Well, it was Atom’s mother from whom Atom inherited his artistic skills. It was in July 1997 when Atom’s parents along with Atom and his sister immigrated to the USA.

Atom was based in New York since the age of 16 in 1997. He was an academic learner in the field of fine art, He studied at the Art Students League, National Academy of New York and Grand Central Academy. Atom seems to be inspired by every art movement as can be distinctly seen in his art pieces. Atom’s realistic anatomy and portraits could be related to Renaissance, and his abstract works to Cubism, Impressionism, Divisionism to Post-Impressionism; Van Gogh looks like his favorite. These were the words by Atom, while he explained his medium of works, “Traditional choice of materials and medium, grind my colors. In the abstract works: my goal is to create a unified atmosphere and sense of luminosity. Bits and pieces of forms from memory are utilized as building blocks for constructing the composition.” 

Atom’s professional life was a combination of varied professions. He had also pursued economics at St. John’s University. Atom started working at the age of 16 and paying his expenses. He was also appointed as a General Manager at Prime Grill, Beverly Hills, CA, one of the most luxurious restaurants that attracted famous Hollywood celebrities. Atom worked there from 2006 to 2008 which was the only time he had spent outside New York. It was in 2009 when Atom decided to pursue his passion and love for art as a full-time artist.

It is good to know that Atom’s every artwork and writings are being well preserved and highly valued by his family, which now manages everything he left behind, which are more than 200 artworks. Atom’s father shares that Atom had gifted many of the artworks, which shows he was a kind-hearted soul. His artworks are also in private collections. Atom studied anatomy, figure drawing, portraits, and life drawings under the guidance of various mentors namely; Phil Michelson, Michael Grimaldi, Tom Torak, and Dan Thompson. Atom studied works by different artists right from Cubism, Impressionism, Divisionism to Post-Impressionism including artists like De Kooning, Kandinsky, Picasso, Seurat, and Cezanne and Van Gogh. Atom visited museums, bought the monographs of the masters, studied and combined the study of different art movements in art history including the era of Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael to excel the human anatomy and realistic rendering style which could be seen in some of the portrait paintings made by Atom.

The decade of Atom’s artistic career had many art exhibitions. He exhibited at Pechersky Gallery, Moscow, Russia in 2014; Novomoskovsk Art Gallery, Russia 2014-2017, Annual Exhibition Art Students League of New York 2015-2016, Kunstmatrix.com online exhibition Berlin 2018, Artpal online exhibition New York 2018 and Jose Art Gallery 2018. Atom also participated in multiple private art shows in Manhattan, NY in 2016 and 2017. He was also represented In various events organized and managed by “FED” Inc. Harlem, New York City, from February to July 2019. His works were also exhibited in San Diego Expo May 2019 and Clio Art Fair Exhibition March 5-8, New York 2020. Atom’s artworks have been featured in Artist Portfolio Magazine, Issue 38, 39, 41, 42, and 43. Also featured in SPOTLIGHT ART Magazine Issue 15 and 16 along with the Important World Artists 4 Book May 2020, 4 pages in Premium Presentation.

Atom shared a good bond with his family. Atom’s mother accompanied him to museum visits and his father always insisted to support him financially. But as Atom always wanted to be independent and not to burden anyone, he resisted any financial help from his family. Atom also helped his sister Ellen Davtyan with the interior design of her house and gifted her many of his early Artworks. As we begin to talk about the roller coaster of emotions that flooded Atom’s life, it is noted that he had been through heartbreak and betrayal in both his personal life and professional life. Atom’s beloved girlfriend and many of his business colleagues had betrayed him which had broken his trust many times; he who saw the world as transparent and value being true to everyone did not see this happen with him. The time when the real world hit him hard, he had unconsciously gotten those trapped feelings into his artworks. The paintings of a woman, the dark colors of his palate, and the endless strokes say it all. One day something deep inside had given him the courage to take his own life. Maybe he was in search of a better world with the honesty which he deserved!

Atom would always be remembered for the unique style and presentation of concept as a unique artist of the current art world. The style that combines different eras, yet in harmony. Atom isn’t physically here with us today, yet his presence and energy is still alive and resides in his every art piece.

For Atom’s original artworks, artist statement and bio visit www.artbyatom.com

Email arahov62@yahoo.com (Ara Hovhannisyan, Atom’s father)

Instagram @artbyatomhov (original works updated by Atom’s parents) and @atom_hov (created by Atom)

In collaboration with Grishma Khodaria

The post Gone Too Soon, Yet Explored a New Era of Art appeared first on Artiholics.

Kai, how did you become an artist and when? Are you from a family of artists?

I’m not sure if I ever planned to become an artist. My dad is an artist and my mom is a photographer, but I think it kind of just happened. Growing up, my family moved a lot. Things weren’t always easy. We didn’t have a TV. We lived a simple lifestyle. One constant was my dad’s art books. Whenever we moved, he brought them along. So, if I wasn’t playing sports or drawing, I had my nose buried in those books. My first official piece was Morons. I created the piece to encourage my father to quit smoking. At the time, I had a real fear that this bad habit would cut his life short. The artwork resonated with him. He quit smoking and gave me a few hundred dollars for the painting. He asked me to use the money to help others the way I helped him. I did what I had learned from the books, printing posters by hand and placing them up on random walls. And, that’s how I became a street artist.

What brought the “Beaux-Art de Paris” experience? What were the best and worst moments?

My decision to attend l’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts was driven, in part, by ego. I was at the dinner table with my family and we were discussing art. My father and I were arguing about which artist had a larger impact on the history of art as a whole. At some point, I said, “I think I know a little better than you, Papa. I’m currently at Cal-Arts.” He laughed and responded, “You’re in an art school in America. If you really want to study art, go to Paris, the art epicenter of the world.”  So, my father and I placed a little wager whether I would be able to get into Les Beaux-art de Paris. I applied and was selected as one of three American admits. I was also the only American to study there for the full year.  I loved studying in Paris. It was the hardest, but most beneficial, year of my life. I had no money. I lived in a tiny “maids-room” with no heater and not much to eat. But I’ve never learned so much. I spent all day in class and night in the classrooms, not only to learn but because the school had central heating.  I learned all the fundamentals needed to make art with my hands. It was the exact opposite and an incredible complement to what I had learned at Cal-Arts because all the theories and philosophies of art were lived and experienced as a practice.

Can you highlight five key moments in your career?

Several years ago, I traveled the world on less than $8,000 USD, creating street art just for the love of art.  Meeting Bernard Markowicz and putting together my first solo show at his gallery, Markowicz Fine Art, in Miami.  Having Le Touquet honor me and my art in their Artist Hall of Fame. Creating my Imaginary Friend (or, IF as its better known), which is the centerpiece of my current work. The final moment is not really limited to one occasion, but really, anytime I’m able to inspire or elevate someone through my art. It’s my favorite thing about being an artist.

We noticed the city of Le Touquet in France honored you in its Hall of Fame. Can you tell us how that happened and what it meant to you being so young and being recognized as a “famous” artist? As a Los Angeles artist, what was your connection with Le Touquet and its museum?

Le Touquet invited me to put street art up in their city and inducted me into their Artist Hall of Fame. I was actually able to add my handprints to their growing ring of honor. 

Why is the concrete medium so important to you? Do you see a link between your art and the ART BRUT movement?

I love working with cement. There’s something magical about taking dust, adding water, and being able to create something permanent. I’m a street artist at heart. But, the context and medium of my work is very important to me. The use of cement keeps me grounded. It’s a red thread from my early efforts to my recent works.

How did Covid-19 affect you and your art?

Covid-19 forced me to take some time for myself. It was my first substantial timeout in five years. It gave me the time to reflect and study what is happening in the art world. It gave me the opportunity to think about where I would like to go next.

What are your next steps and projects?

That’s the question, isn’t it? What’s next? I’m excited to share something new and different soon. I have several projects planned. But, inspiration strikes all the time.

So, keep your eyes and heart open!

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New York City is a vibrant and dense city, full of life, colors, and forms. A city known for its love of art in all expressions and ways. Artists and creators find in New York City an open space to showcase their talent, that openness and invitation to create are what makes New York City a reference in the world and a destination for many artists and visitors who want to experience and see the world through the eyes of those who have a story to tell.

A beautiful and special place is Central Park, right in the middle of Manhattan, a space that has allowed New Yorkers and guests to experience nature in the middle of this concrete jungle. Central Park is there to offer all its visitor a space to breath, to walk and to decompress from the intensity that this city can embody. Central Park is also an open space and an open canvas for many artists to present their work to the world.

The Horses is a remarkable art installation located in the Doris C. Fredman Plaza in Central park, curated by Public Art Fund and the curator Daniel S. Palmer. The Horses is an impressive artwork of three aluminum horses, created by the well-known and respected French artist Jean-Marie Appriou. The massive sculptures raging from 16 feet tall to 16 feet long are outstanding installations that evoke those whimsical and poetic figures that can be found in magical stories.

Appriou was inspired by the horses-drawn carriages that are one of the many attractions found in Central Park and by August Saint-Gaudens’s gilded monument of William Tacumseh Sherman on horseback, located in the area. The Horses are magnificent sculptures, carved in clay and foam models, cast in aluminum and full of textures emulating muscles, metal plates and in some places like fabric. One horse is seated, the two others are standing but their location it’s made to create a feel of a scene or scenario.

Public Art Fund curator said about the artist in the public art fund press release, “Jean-Marie Appriou’s unconventional approach to sculpture is almost alchemical, His craftsmanship is informed by a deep knowledge of the historical lineage of sculptors that have preceded him. At the same time, Appriou’s equine sculptures are otherworldly, evoking the silent majesty of horses with nuanced sculptural details that flicker between narrative and poetry.” 

The Horses are sculptures of a mix of human and horse form, giving the viewers the experience of being in front of mystical creatures, encouraging the visitors to see beyond what their eyes see and into what their imagination see. The Horses installation is also an active experience, where people can walk under the standing horse, or around the others to see all of their details and touch their textures, an activity that creates a distinctive experience.

The installation is a beautiful artwork that invites all visitors to use their imagination and to find the magic in the creation and is a suitable art piece that asks everyone to experience the charmed that Central Park offers. Art could be a special way to see the world, with curious eyes and with an open and creative mind, and that is the perfect attitude to go to Central Park and see and discover all its beauty, secrets, and artistic elements.

The world is living in a new reality, where social distancing, face mask and proper hygiene are part of the vocabulary, a new reality in which parks and open spaces are now the perfect and safest places to visit and to spend time. For New Yorkers and tourist now days Central Park has become not only an essential point in an itinerary but also a must visit to fulfill the artistic need, to calm the anxious mind and to enter for a moment in a new and simple reality full of nature and art. The Horses and this type of art exhibits give people the chance to practice art in a safe and fun way.

Public art is a great way to enjoy and satisfy that artistic necessity in any day, but most important during this time when people are not only facing isolation and health concern but also economical concerns. Now creativity is a key not only to create art or to find it but also a way to enjoy time, families, and friends. New York is a place that offers many forms of public and accessible art to its residents and guests. The Horses installation is an example of that artistic vain that is part of the essence of this city.

The Horses will be on display at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, 5^th Avenue at 60^th Street, until August 2020.

Jean-Marie Appriou, The Horses, 2019, Cast aluminum, courtesy of the artist and CLEARING, New York/Brussels; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich/New York
Presented by Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, Sep 11, 2019 – Aug 30, 2020

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New York City is a city that breathes art in most of its corners, and it is known as the city that never sleeps and where dreams come true. New York City is where art cannot only be found in its famous museums, but also in its streets. Walking through the city could lead you to multiple and diverse forms of art, from installations, murals, paintings to monuments, you name it and probably you can find it in the well-known and appreciated street art in the mist and heart of the city.

A city that is full of attractions but also it is in itself a massive attraction to many visitors and locals. Walking through New York City has become in many cases a free for all access pass to a giant and singular urban museum of architectural wonders, music and other cultural experiences. New York City is a clean and open canvas for many artists, performers, and creators to display and share their talent with everyone willing to pay attention. Street art is mostly for everyone, and is an accessible way to convey art, to provide an experience to all visitors and viewers, and a spectacular way of doing art.

Banksy is the famous British street artist, known for his mysterious and anonymous identity, and for his popular graffiti paintings around many countries in the world. His urban street art and interventions in the art community have gained him recognition, his style is a signature that he has developed over the years with each of his pieces and displays. Banksy has attracted an interest in his street art and in the meaning of it, making it an experience for his followers, admires and critics. The inclusion of his fans in his way of doing art, and the chase to discover his latest creation or intervention is what has made him a symbol of the rise of street art. The use of cultural, urban and mundane objects and spaces as part his artwork, the graffiti form of painting and the inappropriate feel of it has gained him an audience that appreciates his irreverent style and his mysterious message sometimes implicit and at other times difficult to identify.

The Hammer Boy, located on 79^th Street and Broadway in Manhattan on the wall of the DSW store, is one of many Banksy’s street art pieces left during October 2013, when the artist created a few art pieces around New York City, in over a 31-day period. Some of those pieces were removed, but the Hammer Boy was preserved by the local business, owner of the store, where it was found it. Now covered with Plexiglas to protect the art over time and from other forms of damages, Hammer Boy has become a point of reference for tourist, visitor and Banksy fans.

The simplicity and the use of his surroundings are signs of the artist’s work found in the Hammer Boy. A simple black silhouette of a child holding a hammer painted in a stencil, imitating for many the popular carnival game, where a person uses a hammer to hit a level, the contrast with the brick beige wall and the black color of the silhouette makes it stand up to the viewer. The use of the hydrant, the pipe and the signs on the wall are a demonstration of Banksy’s style of using artless and ordinary objects.

Graffiti and the definition of it as a form of street art, art or  just simple vandalism is a topic of discussion and evaluation, but what is not up for discussion for many is the inspiration and appreciation street art provides to those looking to transform mundane objects, spaces and lives into better and more artistic expressions. Street art challenges the artist and everyone that admires it to see the world with a different and more artistic eye.

New Yorkers are coming out of a difficult quarantine due to a virus that has impacted the city in unimaginable ways but has strengthened its spirit and determination. The love of their city is ingrained in what it represents and provides not only to its local population but to the world. Art is subjective but also is encouraging, inspiring and healing, having these options accessible by a simple walk or a simple train ride, for many is what helps and keeps this city alive. Discovering and re-discovering these little gems throughout the city is a way to get back into a new normal that people are still trying to discern and grapple with. Soon Museums will open again and inside door activities will be available, but for now and for all those who value seeing and finding art in the monotonous and daily life, street art is a way to enjoy art and life in these difficult times.

The Hammer Boy is a simple, very accessible piece of art that is not only a representation of its creator, but also a fit in a city that love, speaks and inhale art. You can find Banksy’s Hammer Boy art piece on 79^th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, on the wall of the DSW store. It is worth a visit.

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Before we get into the informational questions, could you tell us something about you that would be surprising and unique? Tell us about yourself and a curious fact in your life.

I am the only boy of a family of eight children. My little 5′ tall Irish fairy mother gave birth to a girl every year for 5 years straight. My father was working as a salesman for a pharmaceutical company. He was injecting my mother with Vitamin B and Folic acid to “build” her blood back up after all those babies. They did not know my mother was pregnant with me when she was receiving large doses of Vitamin B and folic acid. The result was that I had an energy level unmatched by anybody else.

What an interesting start to your life. What was your pathway like to become a photographer? When did you decide to become a photographer?

I studied radio, television, and film at Pennsylvania State University. I worked in local community television production for a few years. I left the industry and returned to pursue neon body-painting photographic art. The pathway to my art I cut for myself. I do not like to follow and copy other people’s creativity. I prefer to invent my own. Perfecting the technique was accomplished with much trial and error.

Please tell us what the inspiration is for your photography.

I like to make beautiful things, which I do through stimulating other people’s creativity and inspiration. Everyone has a creative side. I attempt to access and amplify it through my art.

Describe for us what is “Glow-Art”? And how do you create it?

GLOW-ART is a portal to experience the ethereal through the use of everyday earthly items. It is a God-source inspired photographic art. I do not create it. I push the buttons; the creativity comes from above, I am simply the conduit. I created GLOW-ART.COM to expand the conscious and the unconscious feelings and thoughts of my audience.

How do you create your designs? Can you tell us about your creative process?

To create the design I blend contrasting colors. The contrast between the colors is what brings out the thought evoking process.

You are a photographer and now you are also a fashion designer. How did you connect these two artistic worlds? What inspired you?

Transforming from body painting photographic artist to fashion designer was a financial decision. I do not want to make an income from photography the way other photographers do. I chose to cut my own path. Fashion design I believe is a natural avenue to promote art. The fashion and art worlds are both beauty driven, so merging the two is a perfect decision.

You recently have been part of NY Fashion Week. How was that experience for you and your career?

I loved New York Fashion Week. I love all fashion shows. New York happens to be driving distance from my home in York, Pennsylvania. I pursue any and all fashion shows I can afford and can travel easily. Fashion shows have an amazing energy you don’t find anywhere else. The models, the designers, the photographers, the audience are always very positive and vibrant.

COVID-19 is having an impact on every facet of life. How is the Covid-19 situation impacting you?

I maximized the quarantine time to create, design, and market my product from home. I shot photography quite a bit less and less and built much more apparel.

What is on the horizon for you concerning your creative outlets of photography and fashion apparel?

I will continue to bring awareness of  GLOW-ART to people through fashion shows, and photoshoots with other photographers and their models. I hope to bring awareness of my apparel through involving other more traditional photographers and BY working with models from their area. I will happily bring a garment bag full of GLOW-ART apparel to a photo shoot to enhance the work of other photographers and models.

Looking farther down the road into the future, are there any future projects percolating, either in your current fields or with an eye to branching out even further?

I am building a studio with a dark GLOW-ART studio and other spaces for more traditional photography. In my studio I am building model’s quarters to host traveling models. This enhances the ability of the model and regional photographers to create by having the model and studio in one place with all the tools to make great photographic art.

Ron Vestal: GLOW-ART.COM

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Photography captures moments in real-time and preserve them through it. A form of art that acts as a window to the past and a way to look back to periods of times and events that created history. A photograph allows the viewer to travel to that specific moment and experience what the photographer tried to capture and convey. It could be a simple memory, a statement, a communication or just a way to tell a story and bring to life a vision of that time.

A photograph is highly influence by the person behind the lens, how the photographer sees the moment, the composition and mostly what is trying to show through the selection of locations, subjects, colors, and methods. For most artists the intention is to produce a photograph that will deliver their intent or will allow the viewer to create their own experience and conclusions.

In Garry Winogrand’s Color exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum, viewers and visitors will find a different side of the artist photography, the less known side, his color photographs. Winogrand was a celebrated photographer. Known for his black and white images, Winogrand was a pioneer of the of “snapshot aesthetics” trend in contemporary art, a trend form around the 1960s in fine art photography consisting on presenting what the photographer saw, casual looks and ordinary living. Winogrand was a figure of his time and a pivotal artist of his generation. According to the press release of Garry Winogrand: Color exhibition, Winogrand used to carry two cameras one with black-and-white film and another with Kodachrome color film, despite not having the resources to produce his color images he still shot them, leaving an unknown and undeveloped work, that now is the center of this exhibition.

As the first exhibition dedicated to Winogrand’s color photography, it presents more than 450 never seen or rarely seen color photographs through seventeen projections in vertical and horizontal points. “Presented in eight thematic sections that highlights Winogrand’s diverse subjects and approaches to color photography” as it was described in the press release. The contrast between the colorful and constant changing slides and the darkness of the gallery room makes it a unique experience to the visitor, a sense of intimacy that allows the viewers to travel through the snaps, the colors and the compositions, to look back to that specific time to recognize and remember their own experiences or to discover a new one. Stories and history not as familiar as the present-day but can still carry an experience, a comparison and distinction to it.

Scenes that seem as everyday life, simple subjects, elements and people who represent that moment in time, leaving a visually compelling experience to the guest making the exhibition a special immersion into Winogrand’s work. The constant changing and movement of the slides give the display a rhythm, engaging the guest and the art in an ingenuous way. Accompanied by a small selection of the artist popular black-and-white photographs the exhibit creates a generous window into the artist photography.

Garry Winogrand (1928-1984) was a renown photographer that defined a generation with his work, creativity, methods and style, originally from a working-class family from the Bronx, New York City, he traveled through New York and the United States capturing with his lens the lives and places of normal America and moments that are now part of his legacy to the world. Winogrand was committed to his unique selection of subjects, large crowds and chaotic places that created a contrast with calmer and less packed scenery, an aesthetic that made him a representation and now a reference in the world of photography.

“Continuing the Museum’s commitment to canon-expanding exhibitions, Garry Winogrand: Color is an exciting opportunity to rethink not only the work of an influential artist but also the history of color photography and its modes of presentation before the 1970” expressed curator Drew Sawyer in the Brooklyn Museum press release.  Garry Winogrand: Color is on view through December 8, 2019, at The Brooklyn Museum.

Written by Monica Herrera

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New York City is a cosmopolitan city, where art museums are one of its biggest attractions for visitors who want to learn about art. The variety of options New York has to offer for those seeking to get in touch with the artistic world is an advantage and privilege for locals and visitors. Now the City has an additional option for people who admire, love and appreciate dogs.

The AKC Museum of the Dog, founded in 1982 in New York City, was later moved to St. Louis County, Missouri. After more than 32 years the museum is back in the City. A museum dedicated to celebrate dogs, their history, influence in society, and to praise the emotional bond between canines and humanity.

A unique place where sightseers will find fine-art paintings from various artists and media. Figurines and artifacts that showcase the history and diversity of dogs and their elements, as well as a substantial library with about 42,000 books and all sort of dog related information that a visitor might want to explore. Including a children section.

The Museum of the Dog according to their website, offers “rotating exhibits featuring objects from its 1700 pieces.” Visitors will discover paintings of famous dogs through history, including painting U.S. Presidents George H. Bush’s dog Millie and George W Bush’s dogs Barney and Miss Beazley. It was reported that former first lady Barbara Bush praised the museum in a letter in 1990. Among other famous dogs, visitants will see Edwar VII’s wire fox terrier Caesar.

As part of the American Kennel Club, an organization considered a leader force in all dogs related matters and advocacy, the museum has growth under their financial support and contribution. “The AKC Museum of the Dog houses one of the largest collections of dog art in the world and is an important part of AKC’s history and future,” expressed Ronald H. Menaker, Chairman of the Board for the American Kennel Club in their press information.

For some art critics, art dedicated to dogs has not being taken serious at times due to the sentimentality attachment, for visitors is a new way to learn and appreciate dogs. The Museum of the Dog has added technology and screens where a digital dog will appear to interact with guests enhancing the visitors experience.

The Museum of the dog located in 101 Park Avenue, entrance on East 40th street, open Tuesday through Sunday.

Written by Monica Herrera

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Ella Dobson is a designer and animator. She strives to reach people beyond the spoken word, and to tell stories in an engaging way through design and animation. It is an art to be able to use this medium effectively.

Ms. Dobson’s work is deceptively simple. Her inspirations include Matisse, from her bold use of color and design perspective, and Saul Bass in how she unifies design, typography and animation. Her shapes are flexible so that their transitions are fluid, with intriguing flows and inventive shifts. They complement the narrative in a way that engages but is not gimmicky, making it easy to follow along with the music and narration. Ms. Dobson understands that staying true to the story is key. By not allowing the imagery to dominate or become its own showcase, the context is maintained and the message communicated.

Ms. Dobson’s award-winning work for The New York Times’ animated film “When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real”, explores what it’s like to be a parent today. It is an episode in The New York Times’ series Conception, produced by Margaret Cheatham Williams. 

In the episode Dobson animated, a mother, Melissa, talks about her son’s reaction to the 2018 Parkland shooting, as well as her own experience with the Virginia Tech shooting. 

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

Melissa starts with her own childhood and quiet life growing up in Virginia. The simple lines of a family walking in a town with a patch of bright green grass conveys the mood of tranquility. She then speaks of her son who describes their current hometown as a place where nothing ever happens. However, this all changes with the Parkland shootings in 2018.

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

The animation morphs into running figures and the overlay of red, illustrating the trauma of the horrific event. As Melissa’s voice modulates, the animation’s shimmying forms convey her emotion as she tells her story.

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

She relates her own experience of the Virginia Tech massacre years earlier (2007). As Melissa and her child sit together, the red veil of danger, fear, and death persists.

‘When Your Child’s Bogeyman Is Real’ (screenshot), from The New York Times’ series Conception.

For the final sequence, the bare black and white treatment conveys the sense of alienation with elegant terror.

In contrast to such grim realities, Ms. Dobson has done work for MarketWatch in their story, ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints,’ and Spotify, where she helped the animation team at Hornet give Spotify’s end of year campaign some motion, ‘Your 2018 Wrapped.’ 

In the Mailchimp piece, she worked with Barron’s Group to tell the story of Mailchimp CEO and Co-founder, Ben Chestnut. The tone is decidedly upbeat, reflecting the informal charm of the CEO’s narration.

MarketWatch: ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints’ (screenshot).

When Mr. Chestnut speaks about his feelings regarding Asian stereotypes, her imagery effectively interprets that experience.

MarketWatch: ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints’ (screenshot).

Then, with wry humor, as Mr. Chestnut talks about “everyone thinking I knew Kung Fu”, Ella’s clean lines and bright palette make the animation pop, bringing focus and clarity to the story.

MarketWatch: ‘Why Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut prefers sticky notes to PowerPoints’ (screenshot).

The colorful imagery and playful drawings take a story that deals with business development, stereotypes, and potential discrimination and make it accessible, as it seamlessly blends with Mr. Chestnut’s open, non-confrontational account.

Ms. Dobson graduated from Auckland University of Technology in 2016 with a Bachelor of Design and has already garnered nominations and awards such as: Best Awards, Moving Image Finalist (2019); New Creators Showcase, Cannes Lions – Winner (2019); D&AD Next Animator – Winner (2019); and AI-AP’s Int’l Motion Art Awards 7 – Winner (2019). She is currently working on an animated piece with 20th Century Fox for an upcoming Netflix series. Ella Dobson’s resume is impressive. It is easy to see why. 

Though just 24, Ella Dobson has already accrued a following. With an insight into how animation can enrich experience and noting that people crave more authenticity and less fancy effects, she has carved out a niche for her work where the growth potential is limitless. You can learn more about Ella Dobson and see more of her work on her web locations: website, www.elladobson.com; and LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/ella-dobson-38b577124. Her interview on NY-ARTNews provides insight regarding her technique, influences, and approach.

Written by Jennifer Vignone

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The human body has always been a fascination for many artists. It has been a source of inspiration, study, and analysis. If we could understand the body, we could probably comprehend the mystery that it embodies and develops the creativity that comes from that knowledge.

Mark Manders, an accomplished contemporary artist from the Netherlands, has always been interested in the human figure, especially the head which has been a significant element represented in his work throughout his career. Manders created an impressive art installation, a thirteen feet tall remarkable piece called Tilted Head, commissioned by the Public Art Fund and exhibit at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza in New York City. This large-scale sculpture that looks like an incomplete half-head made by clay but is actually of cast bronze, is one of the latest artworks that the city is displaying for locals and visitors, as part of their commitment to bring art into public places.

The massive sculpture appears to be a work still in progress or abandoned in a studio, a clear distinction of the labor that entails an installation of that magnitude. Tilted Head has its eyes closed, an expression of tranquility and the upper third of the face is cut. Other elements conforming the piece are wooden planks on the top, two chairs and a suitcase smaller than the installation can be seen in the back. All these components in different sizes have a purpose as stated in the Public Art Fund site “this shift in scale, unexplained objects, and trompe l’oeil bronze effect alter our perception and spark the imagination.”

As most of Manders’ work Tilted Head is his way to write with objects, a transition from his initial interest to be a writer in his younger years to a fascination with objects that evolved in the use of as a language of creativity and art. The result is a career filled with incredible sculptures and art pieces that speak to the public rather through the senses than through the written word. An invitation to the viewer to use their ingenuity and interpretations to formulate their own conclusions about his art.

Central Park as the backdrop of Tilted Head creates a clear contrast between the calm and simplicity of the sculpture against the color, the chaos and vibrancy of the park, making the scenery a compelling New York City spot and photo postal that visitors can experience.

Tilted Head is available for viewing until September 1st, 2019 at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza at the 60th street and Fifth Avenue, Central Park, New York City.

Written by Monica Herrera

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New York City is known for its impressive skylines, rich culture and vibrant communities. Considered a melting pot of different cultures and traditions. A diversity represented in its population and also in its art. Many artistic expressions are constantly created to showcase those unique backgrounds and languages that make it a city like no other.

This multiculturalism feeds artist with inspiration, opportunities, and a platform to amplify their message through their work. If you make it here, you can make it anywhere says the famous Frank Sinatra lyric in reference to New York. A phrase that has become a popular invitation for those who come from the outside. It doesn’t matter what language you speak or where you are from, New York City has a cultural history built with the contribution of all those that have come from different places and it will keep growing from the ones that keep arriving.

As a way to celebrate the city’s immigration diversity as well as a celebration of the artist, Kasmine Gallery’s rooftop is presenting a new exhibit consisting of three remarkable sculptures by Robert Indiana (1928-2018).  Indiana was an American artist creator of one of the most renowned works of art of the 20th century on the theme of love. On view from the High Line with access on 28th  street, for the first time, the three sculptures are exhibited in one place. Each sculpture is a reproduction of Indiana’s famous LOVE series. Expressed in three of New York’s most significant dialects: English LOVE, Spanish AMOR, and Hebrew AHAVA.

Indiana’s LOVE composition consists of the word LOVE in bold serif lettering of VE stacked underneath the L and off-kilter O. The original image, green and blue with a lively red script, was used for the Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in 1965. Followed by exhibits of iconic paintings, drawings and small sculptures in the 1960s. Later created as a public sculpture for the first time in 1971. Subsequently, with a series of love theme creations displayed in many museums and parks all over the world.

The three versions of the installation in this exhibition have a similar arrangement of the word in each language. AHAVA created in cor-ten steel, LOVE in color blue, red and white, and AMOR has a vibrant red and yellow.

Indiana was considered a leader in the pop art movement. A movement that originated in the United Kingdom and the United State during the 1950s. Popular imagery and mass culture art were included as a contrast to traditional fine art. Focusing on realism with the use and incorporation of advertising, comic books and day to day objects like Campbell’s soup cans, pop art challenged the ideas of abstract expressionism.

For Indiana the work done with the LOVE series was a return to his beginnings as a sculptor, painter and poet, as stated in his website, for Indiana, “ The Love Sculpture is the culmination of years of work base on the original premise  that the word is  an appropriated and usable element of art.”

The exhibition is accessible to view from the High Line on the 27th street until September 2019.

Written by Monica Herrera

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Summer is in full swing in New York City, a time of the year when outdoor activities take center stage, especially in a city known for its vibrant life. Walks around the neighborhood, movies at the park and picnics are a fun way to enjoy the sun, the long days and the heat of the season.

A favorite interest among locals and visitors is to take advantage of art shows, presented in many forms and places all around the city. More recently sightseers have a new interactive public artwork to see, The Nautilus. Located in the famous waterfront at the Seaport District the exhibit lights up the nights of an already popular district.

The Nautilus is a collaboration between Lincoln, Atlantic Re:think, and SOFTlab. A partnership that brought to life an impressive art installation that invites those who visit it to appreciate the design and its magnitude but also to be active participants. An invitation to touch the art reads in most of the elements that shape the piece. Michael Szivos, founder of New York City-based design studio SOFTlab explained, “Museums are great, but our work that’s in the public realm is not in a white box, so it’s not framed, in a way.”

Consisting of 95 interactive poles, The Nautilus recognizes the visitor’s presence and touch. Each pole displays light and plays a melody when grasp, creating an experience of an oversize musical device. Linked by computer and sensors, with a touch, poles will play a full audio display. Guests can walk between the installation, immersed inside, and have a unique experience.

Approachable art and the need to stimulate society were partly the inspiration of its creators. Easy technology to understand and use was the main focus when creating the piece. “With this public art installation, we were able to use Lincoln’s rich design heritage and technology, and bring a really fun and immersive experience to the seaport,” said Jeremy Elias, executive creative director of Atlantic Re:think in a press release.

The Nautilus named after Lincoln new crossover the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus, is free to the public and showcase at Pier 17 until September 10, 2019. Later, it will move to its final destination at the Lincoln Headquarters in Detroit.

Written by Monica Herrera

The post The Nautilus, a Constellation of Lights in the City of Lights appeared first on Artiholics.

She has long been known as photographer, whose black and white portraits of subjects looking away or cut off by the frame, with fragmentary captions that read as if lifted out of an unfolding story, announced her in the 1980s as a major voice in black feminist art.

Lorna’s works have been included in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally and the journey continues. Lorna is currently exhibiting at the world’s most prestigious gallery, Hause & Wirth a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery in New York City. The exhibit titled “Lorna Simpson. Darkening” which is currently ongoing is the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in New York. Presenting for the first time in the public, the exhibit will bring forth new large-scale paintings by Lorna; it finds Simpson returning to and building upon themes and motifs at the center of her practice: explorations focused on the nature of presentation, identity, gender, race and history.

For more than 30 years, Simpson’s works have entangled viewers in an equivocal web of meaning, drawing upon techniques of collage through the use of found materials, often culled from the pages of vintage Jet and Ebony magazines. In “Darkening “Simpson continues to engage viewers with layers of paradox, threading dichotomies of figuration and abstraction, destruction and creation, past and presents.

Lorna’s Darkening has been on view at Hause & Wirth from 25^th April 2019 and will end on 26^th July 2019.

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New York City has numerous painters and Taura Auerbach is one of them. She is a visual artist working across many disciplines including painting, sculptures, weaving and publishing. Taura is well known for her exemplary painting skills. Some of her notable works include the Fold Paintings that even included in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, the weave paintings that are composed of woven canvas strips among many others. Taura has shown her works in solo exhibitions and group exhibitions as well.

Painting has been there for a very long time now as it existed even during World War I which started in 1918. Apart from rifles, machine guns, gas, aircraft and many others, boats were also used in the war. British painter, Norman Wilkinson invented New York’s historic boat the “John J Harvey” a vessel that launched in 193os and served the New York Harbor up till 1994.The boat was later decommissioned to extinguish fires and help save victims after 9/11.  Norman claimed that he painted the boat with dazzle patterns specifically meant to distort their forms and confuse the enemy during war. Thousands of water vessel assumed that pattern during those days with the main aim being to make it difficult for the enemy to target them.

In order to commemorate the boat’s history, Taura together with the Public Fund Art a non-profit organization that raises awareness about historic vessels gave a new look to John J Harvey: the treasure of New York City, their once weapon of war. Taura turned it into a 3D painting which she called “Flow Separation.” Flow separation is the turbulence that can happen in the wake of an object moving through a fluid. Taura was inspired by fluid dynamics and decorative arts. She stripped off the exterior surface of the boat its decades-worth paint and rust and recoated it with fresh red and white paint.

The boat was docked from  July 1st to August 12th at Pier 6 at the Brooklyn Bridge Park. From August 13th to September 23^rd, it was located at Pier 25 near Hudson River Park. The boat is currently located at North Pier 66a until 12^th May 2019. Visitors can board the boat for free with occasional 60 minutes trips around New York harbor.

John J Harvey is transformed with a fresh new look, a look that Taura is certain will endure for decades to come. Taura hopes that the new look of the boat will help more people familiarize themselves with the historic vessel.

The post New York’s John J Harvey Historic Fireboat Turned into an Artwork appeared first on Artiholics.

The lives of refugees and migrants can be termed as a “nightmare” since they go through things that are unimaginable as they move from their homes to most of the times unknown destinations. Physical, sexual and psychological abuse is among the different kinds of torture that they go through. In some cases, loss of lives becomes the end result.

More than 34,000 refugees and migrants, most of them coming from Africa, have lost their lives while trying to reach Europe since 1993. In 2006, a Turkish artist Banu Cennetoglu started an ongoing work cataloging the names of those refugees. The list of the refugees which has been shown in different cities around the world has been frequently vandalized, recently, the same happened at the Liverpool Biennial where the 920foot piece was partially torn. Despite all that damage, Banu declined to replace that particular piece explaining that preserving it in its ripped state would serve as a reminder of the systematic violence against people. Sad, right? Violence is taking place even on a “list of people” whom we owe so much respect.

New Yorkers will have the same list of the fallen heroes with them. The list is soon coming to New York as part of the third edition of the Forward Union Fair from September 29^th-30^th which connects the art world with social justice organizations. Art communicates and in this particular situation, it is going to remind us of the courageous heroes who lost their lives while trying to get to Europe to escape violence and poverty and have a new beginning but that was a journey that took a different turn all together.

This year’s edition of the Forward Union Fair at Red Bull Arts New York includes 25 participants and focuses on the themes of immigration, gun control and health care with the sole aim of provoking civic engagement through art, installations and programming. The list will be installed indoors under the safeguard of Red Bull Arts New York.

The Co-Founder of Forward Union Jennie Lamensdorf says that their intention is to support artists whose work focuses on complex subjects among them Jesue Benavente and Kameelah Janan Rasheed.

Sadako Ogata once said “I wish to call on you to join hands in the building of a world where less people will be forced to flee and in which refugees are protected until they can safely return home one day.” The list will somehow bring us one step closer into realizing the words of Sadako that the least we can always do is protect the refugees. Refugees are not illegal, no human life is.

The list will be a form of art celebrating lost lives. Yes, art goes that deep!!

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SEGMENT EPISODE! The “Boss Baby” teaser trailer dropped this week and we talk about that which is immediately followed by a question about whether or not to take a freelance job if it conflicts with your ethics… so you know, a normal RubberOnion Animation Podcast transition. We also cover the rumors that Disney might buy Netflix among other things – which really, my mind is on next week’s live show, Freelance Horror Stories 3, and a special episode which will drop on Patreon so enjoy this one before the awesomeness that is next week leading to Halloween!

Preorder my book coming out next week (Oct 25th, 2016)!!

Please Rate & Review us on iTunes

And you can now listen to us out on SoundCloud!

Topics & Timestamps:

Media Referenced During this Episode:

私のDIY力みて…… pic.twitter.com/PoHmqN5gwn

— TAQRO®ｺﾐﾃｨｱC01b (@taqqqro) October 7, 2016

Check out more of your hosts:

Stephen Brooks
Rob Yulfo

Preorder Stephen’s Animation Tutorial Book:

And please Rate/Review us on iTunes
 Subscribe on SoundCloud 
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The post DreamWorks’ BOSS BABY trailer, When to Not Take a Job for Moral Reasons, and Disney might buy Netflix – RubberOnion Animation Podcast #159 appeared first on Artiholics.

SEGMENT EPISODE! We have two interviews, a discussion about the uncredited animator pushback on “Sausage Party” and one epic story. Enjoy this show, you won’t be forgetting it anytime soon… I know I won’t

Preorder my book coming out in 2016

Please Rate & Review us on iTunes

And you can now listen to us out on SoundCloud!

Topics & Timestamps:

Media Referenced During this Episode:

Check out more of your hosts:

Stephen Brooks
Rob Yulfo

Preorder Stephen’s Animation Tutorial Book:

And please Rate/Review us on iTunes
 Subscribe on SoundCloud 
… and Rate/Review us on Stitcher while you’re at it! (=

The post Animators Uncredited on “Sausage Party,” ARC Productions bought by Jam Filled, Curious George Documentary – RubberOnion Animation Podcast #147 appeared first on Artiholics.